Artist uses dirt, pegs to create huge portrait on National Mall

Originally published October 1, 2014 at 8:11 PM | Page modified October 1, 2014 at 11:00 PM

WASHINGTON A giant portrait of a man has emerged in the landscape of the National Mall in the first such public artwork commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery.

Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodrguez-Gerada created the piece as a compilation of American faces after photographing 30 young men on the National Mall this year, he said Wednesday. The piece is titled Out of Many, One, the English translation of E pluribus unum from the U.S. seal.

The six-acre portrait is made of 2,500 tons of sand and 800 tons of topsoil and can be viewed from the Washington Monument or from space. At ground level, the artist said its like a Zen garden. All the materials were donated.

The artwork adds a new element to the mall, the stretch of green space, museums and memorials from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol, known as the nations front lawn.

Rodrguez-Gerada said he set out to create one of millions of possible faces of America, and he said men between 18 and 25 need to be embraced. It doesnt represent a particular race, he said, but was a compilation of faces that were black, brown and white.

Diversity is the backbone that makes this country great, he said. This is a great way of celebrating that.

He used GPS technology to mark 10,000 points with tiny pegs on an empty field and then linked them with twine to create precise lines for the portrait made of dirt.

From start to finish, the work took six months, with the installation taking only a few weeks. Key to the work is seeing different things from different angles, with the emergence of a face only visible from a distance.

Asked if the portrait was meant to be Latino because of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and his own background, Rodrguez-Gerada who was born in Cuba and raised in New Jersey said he was not creating a Latino face and his connection to the project was serendipity.

Read more:
Artist uses dirt, pegs to create huge portrait on National Mall